Copyright News Round Up
Week of November 10, 2017
Stay informed with all things Copyright with our weekly Copyright News Round Up.
Friday’s Endnotes – 11/10/17
Copyhype | In a Surprise Verdict, Jury Says Developer Broke the Law by Whitewashing 5Pointz Graffiti Mecca — A very rare jury verdict finding a VARA violation. Eileen Kinsella of ArtNet reports, “The six-person jury found that real estate developer Gerald Wolkoff and his related companies broke the law when, in 2014, he whitewashed the 5Pointz graffiti mecca in Long Island City in the middle of the night.
Even Giants Have to Grow Up Eventually
Copyright Alliance | Breaking News: Piracy is a big problem. Okay, so maybe this isn’t “breaking news” but it is a problem and something needs to be done to fix it.
The Internet is Not a VCR
The Illusion of More | That may seem obvious, but if you’re an internet service provider who fails to uphold your end of the DMCA bargain, you’d sure like the courts to think of your service as analogous to the VCR. Certainly, this is fundamental to the appeal filed in the case of BMG v. Cox Communications, for which oral arguments were heard at the 4th Circuit on October 25.
Internet Association Reverses on SESTA. EFF Cranky
The Illusion of More | I can’t say I was surprised when the Internet Association announced on Friday that the major internet companies would be halting their lobbying efforts against the Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking (SESTA) bill. While representatives for Google, Facebook, and Twitter were enjoying Day Three of occasionally intense inquiry by the Senate Judiciary Committee over foreign meddling in our politics via social media, one thing became abundantly clear: the generic defense that everything online is free speech isn’t going to fly. Not with lawmakers. And not with the American people, it seems.
Canadian Literature in Canadian Schools and the Duration of Copyright Protection
Hugh Stevens Blog | If you are fundamentally opposed to any consideration of extending the term of copyright protection to benefit authors and creators, and if you are sufficiently creative in twisting logic, then you can find justification for your position just about anywhere.
There Ain’t No Party Like a Film Festival!
CreativeFuture | Even before your favorite films hit theatres, many were first screened at film festivals. For the past 85 years, festivals have been vital to the global film industry and popular culture at large. They have opened doors for generations of emerging artists, fulfilled dreams, heralded shifts in the kinds of stories we tell, and ushered some of our favorite films into our lives.
“We’re told to be grateful we even have readers’: pirated ebooks threaten the future of book series
The Guardian | The bestselling American fantasy novelist Maggie Stiefvater is leading a chorus of writers warning readers that if they download pirated ebooks, then authors will not be able to continue writing because they will be unable to make a living.
Photo Credit: Kubkoo/iStock/thinkstock & seb_ra/iStock/thinkstock
Photos edited by: Copyright Alliance